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Friday, January 28, 2011

Mind control: From LSD to LCD

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Liquid Crystal Nematic Phase (By: Minutemen)

﻿Whether it’s with LSD or LCD, seeking to control the mind (and with it the body) by any material means is like dancing on the razor’s edge.

Such type mind-control is no longer (if it ever were) just the stuff that science-fiction is made of.Elisabeth

Armstrong Moore recently reported on CNET that Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have figured out ways to control the muscles and brains of worms and other small organisms via the use of “inexpensive components” from liquid crystal display (LCD) projectors.

After genetically engineering light-sensitive proteins into these organisms, researchers were able to manipulate

neurons and muscles by projecting red, green and blue lights at them.When the lights were selectively aimed at a nematode worm’s head or tail, it was then stimulated to move either backwards or forwards.

One of the researchers, Hang Lu, concluded:This illumination instrument significantly enhances our ability to control, alter, observe, and investigate how neurons, muscles, and circuits ultimately produce behavior in animals.Is this supposed to be good news?The “observe” and “investigate” parts sound innocent enough.But how about the “control” and “alter”components?

Bottom line: Do humans have the moral and spiritual fibers to go along with the optic ones?

And worse yet:Will this just be opening up another can of worms?

Richard Alpert, a one-time leading proponent of mind-altering LSD, came to realize that spiritual practices

were far more trustworthy when delving into such territory.For him, it might have been a matter of